Busch vs. Busch in Summer Shootout Grudge Match

Monday, August 11, 2003

Brotherly love will be left in the pit area Tuesday night when NASCAR Winston Cup ace Kurt Busch squares off against younger brother and rising star Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Celebrity Grudge Match during the final night of the 10th annual Summer Shootout Series at Lowe¿s Motor Speedway.

Even though the two will undoubtedly race against each other many times in the future, the NASCAR Celebrity Grudge Match showdown, in which the two Las Vegas natives will drive Winston Cup-style convertibles, will finally end a long-standing tie.

Eighteen-year-old Kyle, who drives in selected ARCA and NASCAR Busch Series races for Hendrick Motorsports, recently noted that he and his 25-year-old brother Kurt, who wheels Jack Roush¿s No. 97 Winston Cup machine, have competed against each other on the race track just 12 times. The races took place in Legends Cars and, amazingly, each brother has beaten the other on six occasions.

Neither of the very competitive siblings wants to sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with a losing record, so the sparks are expected to fly Tuesday night.

Heading into the final night of the 10-week Summer Shootout series, championships are still up for grabs in six of the seven divisions of Legends Car, Bandolero and Thunder Roadster racing. Twelve-year-old Nicholas Pope of Taylorsville, N.C., has won seven consecutive features in the Bandolero Young Guns division and has that title in hand. All the other championship fights are extremely close, including the Legends Car Masters division where Phil Sharpe leads Eddie Harwell by only eight points.

Admission is just $5 for adults. Children 6-12 are admitted for $3 with kids under 6 free. Tickets are available in advance at the speedway ticket office and at Gates 4 and 5A the night of the event. Parking is free. Contact the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS for information or to purchase tickets.

Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with preliminary action starting at 5:25 p.m. Feature racing begins at 7:30 p.m. and will conclude by 10:15.